


Happy Fucking Birthday

by trashy_mammal



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), F/F, F/M, Hurt Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), M/M, Mentioned Valentino (Hazbin Hotel), Nice Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Other, Poor Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Protective Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Sick Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Smart Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Soft Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Valentino Being a Jerk (Hazbin Hotel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23503624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashy_mammal/pseuds/trashy_mammal
Summary: Every year, Angel's body gave itself a present.He was a spider, which meant he went through the unfortunate process of molting. Or, shedding his skin, you could say.Usually, he could hide it.
Relationships: Alastor & Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Arackniss (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Charlie Magne, Angel Dust & Cherri Bomb (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Fat Nuggets (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Molly (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Niffty (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Valentino (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 452





	1. The Worst Gift

Things would be, different this year.

That's what Angel told himself.

He could feel the effects setting in. The insatiable hunger that had him raiding the hotel kitchen at two in the morning. Keeping up calories was a good idea. The full body aches and feeling of his skin being too tight, like a tube top that was a size too small. The pornstar was shedding too- little tufts of fur falling from him body. The sex drive that seemed high even compared to his baseline.

The preparations had begun.

Angel had begun hoarding pillow and blankets, all soft and fluffy ones, building his nest up to be deeper and more comfortable. He'd been gorging himself on high calorie foods and taking care of his urgings with his toys. It wasn't really safe to go have hook ups so close to his shed.

His birthday was two days away.

His shed was the day before. This was the last day the spider had to prepare.

It was dangerous, of course. To shed alone like this. If his shed got majorly stuck or his sensitive new skin was damaged in any way, it could cause permanent injuries. Or at the very least, ones that would last until his next shed. The risk of dying was also high. It was not unheard of for a shed to get stuck over a spider's head, resulting in suffocation. If it got stuck over his eyes, he'd be blind until he could get it off. _If._

Valentino never wanted to help. He'd never even wanted to see his whore during or afterward, as much as he said he couldn't risk Angel's safety.

The day before his shed, Angel had always been kicked out of the porn studios and was forced to spend the time in a shitty motel room. So far, this had caused some substantial damage, but he'd always recovered. The spider was never allowed back to the penthouse until he'd fully recovered- which usually took at least a week.

But it would be better this time. That was what Angel had to tell himself. Now, he was at the Hotel and he could be comfortable while he did this. No one would bug him. All the pornstar had to do, was tell his sponsers that he was doing a project for work and couldn't be there in person because he was sick- or something along those lines. They never really pried into his work life and none of them cared about his birthday, so it's not like they'd bring cake or presents while he was recovering.

Everything would be fine, that's what Angel had to keep telling himself.

All in all, he thought it was a really ridiculous process to have to go through, for such minor changes.


	2. The Final Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel scrambles to finish preparing, as the clock ticks closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mainly filler :|

Angel hummed to himself as he rifled through the kitchen cupboards for what felt like the fifth time that night. He was fucking hungry and trying to binge on calories.

It was currently only midnight, but the spider was trying to stay quiet, not particularly wanting to be questioned at the moment.

Finding a variety of soft snack cakes and a box of assorted crackers and other crunchy snacks, he shoved both in his small tote bag, quickly followed by a pack of waters, and a smallish jug of orange juice, with extra calcium. Hesitating only for a moment, Angel topped off his hord with a bag of frozen dino nuggets and a jar of sugar, then quickly escaped back to his room.

On the bed, Fat Nuggets squeaks and spun in a circle, excited for his dad's hasty return. He didn't understand the growing stress if the situation. 

Angel only had about an hour left.

Already, he could feel more tufts of fur beginning to loosen and his skin shifting uncomfortablely as he moved. It was too loose and too tight all at once.

Having already stocked up on snacks for his piglet, the spider had no more reason to go out and instead just locked his door and began stripping down. His clothes ended up tossed haphazardly into the hamper next to his vanity.

It was time for a hot shower.

Those would be an essential part of this process, since the warm water and gentle scrubbing would help get off the small stuck pieces that were left after the main molt was over.

It would sting like a bitch of course, but that was just par for the course.

With a sigh, Angel picked up his little Fat Nuggets and walked into the bathroom.

"Come on Nugs.. Let's have a shower.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, this is probably not gonna be a very long story XD


	3. Molt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most painful ordeal of his afterlife, may have some complications...

Angel lay on his back on his bed and stretched, feeling as his skin began to crack and peel. Most of his fur had fallen away in the shower, leaving exposed skin that seemed faintly pink and raw.

A small crack formed in the spider's chest and he let out a gutteral sort of whine at the feeling, glancing over at the door briefly to double check that it was locked.

It was.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Angel stretched out all eight limbs and arched his back, listening to the sound of his brittle skin cracking and beginning to slowly come apart at the joints. Another drawn out whine escaped the pornstar. It hurt so fucking bad, this sensation of literally peeling away a layer of skin. But, this was the easiest way to do it, he'd found.

Listening to himself crinkle and crack with every movement, Angel squirmed a bit and began to slowly pull his arms in toward his body, bottom lip trapped harshly between his teeth as the shed was being slowly pried off his body.

The acrid scent of blood was beginning to fill the air, as Angel was able to rest his arms against his heaving chest. There was a small cavity, inflated with air, that Angel took advantage off. Twisting slightly and feeling panic coil tightly in his chest as the loose skin settled heavily around his head.

It wouldn't budge. 

When he was alive, Angel had owned a few pet tarantulas and had bore witness to plenty of sheds. He knew the risks and the consequences. In his 70 years of being in this damned form, he'd dealt with them first hand.

This was a panic that came every year. The fear of being stuck inside of his shed, of getting his head stuck and suffocating.

He was not going to double die this way!

Angel twisted his head sharply, feeling his neck pop and the skin tear.

His mouth was clear now.

Rubbing his face against the soft side of his nest harshly managed to rip away most of the loose skin on his face, though Angel could still feel patches of it clinging to his head. That was fine, as long as it wasn't over his mouth and nose. He could even deal with it covering his eyes for now. A warm shower would help the rogue pieces fall away.

Now for his legs.

This would be one of the trickiest parts, considering all of his twisting had actually counteracted his goal. The shed was plastered tight to Angel's legs, constricting them in a strange position. He let out a soft whimper, before shifting onto his back and putting his feet up on the wall. Maybe he could wiggle them free?

No, apparently he couldn't, considering the moment he started to squirm, it felt like his legs were about to be cut off.

There was only one clear solution and it wasn't a good one.

Angel's bottom set of hands carefully worded their way out of the crack in his chest and took hold of the shed right where his legs began.

The spider took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly and tugged.

A broken cry ripped it's way from Angel's throat as the dead skin was roughly pried away from his raw body.

It wasn't enough.

One more tug and his inverted knee was free, allowing Angel to finally slip his legs down.

Panting and with tears welling in his eyes, he crawled out of the molted form of his body and onto the bed, blood dripping off of him and staining the sheets.

The spider demon didn't look nearly as fabulous as normal but he didn't have the strength to care.

Shakily, Angel climbed to his feet, only to nearly collapse back down to his knees. All that saved him, was managing to get a firm grip on the bed fame with four hands.

Looking down, Angel spared a hiss of pain as salty tears burned his raw skin, a mumbled Italian curse accompanying the sound as he surveyed the state of his legs.

The rough removal from the shed had caused Angel's legs to become twisted and torn, the tendons and muscle surrounding his knees and ankles weaker than normal, and unable to hold his weight. Either this problem would sort itself out as his body healed back to full strength, or this deformaty would stick until his next molting.

Angel could only hope for the former.

With a resigned sigh, the spider- using a broom as a makeshift crutch- dragged himself to the bathroom for a shower.

Heavily dreading these next months of healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end hehe


	4. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaggie and Charlie are getting worried.. Only logical conclusion is to break in!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place a few days after the last chapter.

"Fanculo! Questa è una cazzata.." the poor spider hissed as he tried to snack on some of his frozen chicken nuggets. This was one of the worst parts of the shed and it wasn't even related. It just _happened_ to occur around the same time.

Angel's fangs were loose and wiggley in his mouth, a sign that they were about to fall out and make way for a new set.

With a resigned sigh, he set the nugget- along with a few others, to the side. As soon as he turned away from them, Fat Nuggets swooped down from inside the nest to gobble them up. Making uncomfortable crunching sounds as he snatched them.

With a dry chuckle, Angel grabbed his makeshift crutches and pulled himself into a standing position and took a spoonful from the sugar jaw on his vanity. Letting the crunchy granules shift through his teeth snd soften with his saliva, the spider made his way to his bathroom, slow and unsteady. Hissing in pain at the way the rough material of the fake crutches dug into his raw skin.

It was been a few days and the pornstar's legs had begun to heal, but slowly. There was barely any progress made each day. But it meant that he didn't have to wait and deal with it until his next shed- which was a small piece of optimism that Angel chose to cling onto.

Dear Satan, he didn't know how he would cope if he'd had to deal with it for a full year.

Without bothering to shut the bathroom door behind him, Angel stepped in and began to prepare what felt like his thousandth hot shower.

About an hour later, Charlie and Vaggie met in the hallway outside of the spider demon's suite. 

Charlie had been growing increasingly worried over her patient's lack of presence when taking into account the occasional pained sounds that they'd managed to pick up.

Vaggie, on the other hand, had just grown more suspicious. Wondering if maybe Angel had hidden drugs or alcohol in there with him, in order to go on another one of his (now) rare benders.

So, after much deliberation, the princess had agreed to let her girlfriend pick the lock.

The moth demom did so swiftly and with a worrying amount of expertise, before letting the door swing open.

A piercing scream rang through the hotel, so loud that downstairs, Alastor's ears layed flat to his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Fanculo! Questa è una cazzata.." - Fuck! This is fucking bullshit.. (Italian)


	5. One Step Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it won't always be so bad...

Charlie screamed. She couldn't help it. She froze in her place, eyes widening and a piercing scream coming from her. A true damsel in distress moment. Later, she would claim that it was just a knee jerk reaction and she didn't even know why she screamed. But the fear in her face had been tangible enough in the moment.

Vaggie's reaction had been to jump in front of her girlfriend defensively, spear held out to block them.

In front of the two, stood what could only be described as a creature.

It was tall, probably about half an inch taller than Angel, who stood at an impressive eight feet six inches as it was. Inverted knees, with legs twisted inward and mangled, ending in cloven sort of feet was even nothing when compared to the sheer gore of it. Raw and bloodied skin that seemed almost paper thin, leaving all the veins and inner workings of the demon to be seen through a blurry haze. There _was_ fur on this thing, though it was inconsistent. Part where is was the most bloody- like the legs, arms, neck and stomach- were matted down. Meanwhile, there were patches that were fluffed out and tangled. It seemed thick, though fragile and some seemed to fall out at the slightest twist, to reveal a downy layer underneath. All of it was tinted grayish red by blood and unidentifiable grime. If it were dry, the creature would've looked to be a puffball of this fur, but it was unnaturally thin instead. Six gangly arms protruded from it's sides, and it's eyes were mix-matched. One brown, the other red and black. Around on, were two smaller eyes, and around the other, there were three. Not to mention the fact that it was leaning it's weight onto two brooms, though that was more confusing than anything else.

It was a horror, and a little disgusting.

The creature regarded them with wide-eyed shock for a moment, before stepping forward and beginning to put its hands out.

Vaggie jabbed her spear forward to keep it back, tearing its fragile skin and resulting in a cry of pain.

"What is going on up here?" A familiar radio tin tinted voice piped up from the doorway as Alastor moved into the room. "Who-"

He stopped.

The Radio Demon's eyes surveyed the room for a moment, his twisted smile never falling even as he took in the sights. The pale, almost translucent form of Angel lying ripped on the bed. The blood on the sheets and floor, and the bloody towels piled by the bathroom. Vaggie's defensive stance and finally.. The creature that was now holding it's bloody shoulder, watching them with fear.

The thing open it's mouth to speak, but all Alastor could hear was white noise, buzzing static. He didn't notice Vaggie quickly drop her spear in shock or Charlie cover her mouth with one hand. In fact, he was completely ready to lunge at this thing that killed their Angel.

That is, until an arm grabbing his shoulder jarred the Radio Demon back to reality and he heard he princess' voice yelling for him to stop.

"It's Angel.." she whispered, as soon as Alastor's movement had ceased and she knew he was listening.

Alastor looked on in disbelief. This thing couldn't be Angel. Not _their_ Angel. But it was, and the more he looked, the more he could spot the similarities.

"What.. What happened to you mon ange? What is _that_?" The Radio Demon questioned, motioning to the ripped form on the bed.

"I was just molting.. Ya know, like a spider? I do this every year. That's my old skin. I'm supposed to eat it, helps me recover faster, but it's gross so I'm still working up to it."

Everyone collectively decided to breeze past the part where Angel said he needed to eat his own skin- though it wasn't that strange to Alastor, who practiced cannibalism regularly.

Instead, Charlie waved her finger in a chiding manner. "Angel, that's so dangerous! You should've come to us, we would have helped!"

"But-"

"No buts! I'm afraid our dear princess is correct." Alastor suddenly cut in, having regained his composure. Summoning his microphone, he waved it in front of him in a sweeping gesture- careful not to make contact with his companions' bodies- and shook his head. "This simply won't do, I'll go prepare you a proper meal while you finish up with your skin there, and I'll have Niffty start a wash, and clean out the blood from your walls and carpet. Can't be having any nasty germs infecting you while you're healing. Charlie, be a dear and take the sheets off the bed and put them with the towels."

"You got it Al!"

Alastor was striding out of the room with no further comments after that, with Vaggie hot on his heals to find Niffty.

Angel turned to his matron as she began to strip down the bed, careful not to disturb his old skin. "You guys really don't have to-"

She interrupted again. "You're not alone anymore Angel. We want to help you." was the sentiment that Charlie offered, before going to tidy up the bathroom.

That froze Angel for a moment, even as he felt his legs begin to give out. They wanted to help him? Even in this disgusting form, they wanted to be around him and see him, make sure he was okay. It made an unidentifiable feeling rise in his chest.

He wasn't alone anymore.

What a strange notion...


End file.
